I knew this day would come...

It's a rainy day outside in northeastern Wisconsin. I'm going to miss my summer time sunshine but every end is a new beginning! In the rain, if it's not that cold out, put on your rain gear and putz in your yard a little bit.  You don't have to stay inside, there is still time to get outside before it gets too, too cold to be out. Today I helped my daughter plant some tulip bulbs, then we put up a small fence to keep the bunnies out. Now that I'm in taking a little break after lunch, I thought I would write a list of things to do on a rainy day. All of these projects should only take a few minutes to less than an hour to complete, besides they are a good excuse to come inside and have a nice cup of hot chocolate to warm up!

So here is a list of rainy day things you might like to try:

1) Fill your bird feeders with winter bird seed, it's getting to be that season!

2) Clean your bird bath, it wont be long now before they wont be able to find open water so easily. 

3) Transplant some of your perennials, since it's rainy you don't have to water.

4) Plant some spring bulbs, get your last minute bulb purchases in the ground before the first frost.

5) Put the fencing around fragile spring flowers, believe me it's a real pain to once the snow comes. 

It's still a little rainy out... I think I might just go out to the potting shed and transplant some of my vines into pots to keep for next season. Happy Gardening!

In my daughter's yard after helping with her bulbs.

P.S. If you really don't feel up to going out in the rain, you can check out the lady over at uniquely duplicated... again.  She has a wonderful indoor project that I think you (and your birds) just might like! 

About those leaves in my yard

So, I was driving through town and I noticed the many piles of leaves in the road. Why, I asked myself, are these leaves not being used to help the flowers and hedges grow? I use all of the leavse in my huge yard to nurture my nature. Growing up, after we all played games with the many leaves in the yard for weeks the leaves were broken down enough to help feed the earth around the gardens. If you are already raking your leaves to the curb why don't you try raking them around your trees and bushes instead? The leaves will help to insulate your garden and when they break down over the winter they fertilize the soil.  Maybe you don't think you have time to rake the leaves but you don't need to rake them all, even a small amount of leaves will help. Leaves can also be used as an excellent mulch helping to control the weeds. We never thought the leaves should be used in a landfill. Or maybe leaves really do help break down trash! I don't know, but all of my leaves will be feeding my gardens again this season.